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69 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2008 : 6:02 PM
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My wife and I just returned from a 9-day tour of southern Utah National Parks and Monuments. We were able to hike ~65 to 70 miles and spent two nights camped out. We visited Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Kodachrome State Park, Escalante/Grand Staircase Monument and Zion NP.
There have been a lot of reports here about the region lately, but I've been too busy to keep up with the other trip reports. We flew to Salt Lake, rented a car and drove south to Arches. We had a day at Arches and took in a few loop trails.
         
That night we stayed in Moab. We got up early the next day to drive the 70 miles south to the Needles district of Canyonlands NP.
We chose the Needles area based on a nephew's recommendation. Unfortunately, no backcountry camping permits were available ... so it was a car camp with a monster hike from 11:30 AM to 6:30 PM covering 15 miles through most of the interior of the Needles District, instead.
                   
Oh, yea we needed to follow rock cairns in order to stay on trail ... some of the cairn builders clearly went crazy while working. 
        
The terrain is so different from the deserts and basalt cliffs in central Washington state. The next morning we went off early for another hike up the Squaw Creek Valley (8 mile rond trip), before loading up and heading for the southwest part of the state.
     
A draw back of our approach was the miles required to drive between many of these regions (~1600 miles from Salt Lake out and back while seeing these particular sites). We took a day off to organize an overnight in the Grand Staircase/Escalante area. On Tuesday, we got up early in order to see the rising sun at Kodachrome State Park, before driving into nearly Escalante.
   
We stopped by the Escalante Ranger station and arranged to hike the Harris Wash, a tributary of the Escalante river (which eventually dumps into the Colorado river). We drove gravel roads for 16 miles to a washed-out, dry creek bed and proceeded to backpack down stream. The wind was howling and the blowing sand was initially miserable. We finally dropped into the Harris canyon.
     
Eventually, after about three miles, the creek widened to the point where we abandoned our boots and put on 'Crocks' for the last three miles.
   
We set up a camp in a large sandstone amphitheater (100 to 150 ft walls) with good protection from the wind.
 
After camp was established we then explored locally in side canyons and downstream.
   
The next morning we had breakfast, packed up and walked out under better weather conditions.
     
Before heading back to our 'home base' in St. George we took a five mile hike into Calf Creek Falls and then had dinner at a funky diner in Boulder, Utah (Hell's Backbone Grill).
   
Our last few days were more leisurely, and we concentrated on day hikes in Zion National Park. We opted to avoid more long drives to Bryce and Capital Reef Parks.
       
Somewhere along the last hike in the northwest section of Zion (Taylor Creek) I turned 55. We then loaded up for a drive back to Salt Lake City.
   
This is a wonderful area to explore if you have the chance.
tom |
Edited by - waterpowered on 04/21/2008 12:39 AM
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372 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 12:03 PM
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| Wow! Loved looking at your pictures at work today. Have been to Utah several times hiking and hiked in most of these places. Will look at your pictures longer when I get home tonight and show the girlfriend. I took her there for the first time last year and she loved it. I certainly could use some of that hot Utah sunshine right now. |
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 Simpson quoting tree hunter and canyon rapping rockhound who longs for the return of his trapped Toyota
Salt Lake City, UT
USA
2268 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 12:45 PM
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| All good, all good! The Needles route you did obviously went through Chesler Park and the Joint Trail, but what was the canyon you used to access Chesler? |
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69 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 1:26 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Too Many Canyons
All good, all good! The Needles route you did obviously went through Chesler Park and the Joint Trail, but what was the canyon you used to access Chesler?
We cut over from the Big Spring trail (right out of the campground)through Elephant Canyon, which connects to Chesler and the Joint Trail. We circled back on the Big Spring Trail ... around 15 miles not counting a few detours. It was a marvelous route!!
tom |
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bandana wearin', pole huckin', view lovin', dog herdin', 4x4 navigatin', lake huntin', butt-slidin' bridge crosser, who enjoys postholing with an overnighter pack
Surrey, BC
Canada
4649 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 6:40 PM
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Busy place for CT'ers this year! (Jerry, it's all your fault!  ). great sets of pics, looks like a great trip  |
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Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 6:54 PM
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Yeehaw! I love it! Great time! Fantastic pictures of Abbey Country, and more. 
I'm heading up to a 60 mile bike trail loop with my old truck this Friday and can't wait!
Wow! Your TR makes me want to kill the work week right now!
Oh, well. Duty calls. Gotta pay the masses at Wally World.
I'm going to look a lot closer at the pictures later on.
Cheers! |
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Coffee swillin', wine lovin', Owl fearin' Andie McDowell stunt double, who sports retro gear
Vancouver, BC
5466 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 8:23 PM
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| Those are some amazing shots!! Every time I see pictures of the area I get really envious. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3796 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2008 : 6:08 PM
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| Cool arches, cool staircases. What is that dark blue with blobbies photo??? |
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69 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2008 : 9:04 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Rachelo
What is that dark blue with blobbies photo???
IF YOU MEAN THIS?
Those are bats I tried to shoot with my inadequate photo setup at dusk. When I messed around on my Mac at home, that's how they looked. Kind'a cool looking ... |
Edited by - waterpowered on 04/25/2008 01:07 AM |
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Hiking southern Utah
